The Wayback Machine - http://web.archive.org/web/20240408121957/https://apnews.com/religion

Religion

Pope Francis meets with volunteers of the Italian Red Cross in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Saturday, April 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy and gender theory as violations of human dignity

The Vatican has declared that gender-affirming surgeries and surrogacy are grave violations of human dignity.

Uproar in Malaysia over shoes bearing logo resembling Arabic word for God. Company head apologizes

President Russell M. Nelson gestures during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conference Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Latter-day Saints leader addresses congregants without a word on racial or LGBTQ+ issues

FILE - The Rev. Cecil Murray Sr., of the First African Methodist Episcopal, preaches to his congregation, Sunday, Dec. 20, 1998, in Los Angeles. Murray, an influential pastor and civil rights leader who gained international attention for his efforts to help Los Angeles recover from one of the country's worst race riots, died Friday, April 5, 2024. He was 94. (AP Photo/William Wilson Lewis III, File)

Cecil L. ‘Chip’ Murray, influential pastor and civil rights leader in Los Angeles, dies

FILE - In this undated and unknown location photo, the new leader of Taliban fighters, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is photographed. The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader is urging his officials to set aside their differences. Public dissent within the Taliban is rare, but some senior figures have expressed their disagreement with the leadership's decision making, especially the ban on female education. The written statement on Saturday April 6, 2024 from Hibatullah Akhundzada was published ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)

Reclusive Taliban leader releases Eid message urging officials to set aside their differences

FILE - Youths light firecrackers and flares as they celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan on a street in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Islam follows a lunar calendar and so Ramadan and Eid cycle through the seasons. In 2024, the first day of Eid al-Fitr is expected to be on or around April 10; the exact date may vary among countries and Muslim communities. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

What is Eid al-Fitr and how do Muslims celebrate the Islamic holiday?

Muslims around the world will soon bid farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and start celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

FILE - Women gather round the San Bernardo Convent in support of the convent’s cloistered nuns who accused the Archbishop of Salta Mario Antonio Cargnello and other church officials of gender-based psychological and physical violence, in Salta, Argentina, May 3, 2022. An Argentine court ruled on Thursday, April 4, 2024, that Cargnello and three other church officials committed different forms of violence against the cloistered nuns of the convent. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

An Argentine judge recognizes gender abuse suffered for years by 20 nuns in a breakthrough ruling

An Argentine judge has ruled that 20 cloistered nuns had suffered abuse for more than two decades at the hands of high-ranking clergy in a conservative northern province.

Logan Lerman, Robin Weigert, Michael Aloni, Hadas Yaron, Joey King, Sam Woolf, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, and Amit Rahav, of Hulu's "We Were The Lucky Ones" pose for a portrait at The London West Hollywood on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Hulu’s ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ is a good reminder to talk to your elders while you still can

A new Hulu limited-series called “We Were the Lucky Ones” follows a Jewish family in Poland during World War II who get separated and spend years trying to reunite.

FILE - Police officers stand in front of the 47th precinct in the Bronx borough of New York, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019. New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by two Muslim women who were forced to remove their head coverings to be photographed after they were arrested. The settlement was filed Friday, April 5, 2024, and requires approval by a federal judge. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

NYC to pay $17.5M to settle suit over forced removal of religious head coverings during mug shots

New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by two Muslim women who were forced to remove their head coverings to be photographed after they were arrested.

Olivia Maurel, who was born through surrogacy and is against such practice is interviewed by the Associated Press in Rome, Thursday, April 4, 2024. Maurel met with Pope Francis and attended an International Conference of the Casablanca Declaration, an international campaign for the abolition of surrogacy calling for the adoption of an international treaty. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Right to children or children’s rights? Surrogacy debate comes to a head in Rome

An international campaign to ban surrogacy has received a strong endorsement from the Vatican. A top official is calling for a broad-based alliance to stop the “commercialization of life” catering to wealthy would-be parents.

Flyweight MMA fighter Sabir Hussein, left, practices mixed martial arts moves with another student at Diesel Gym in the Docklands area of East London, Monday, March 25, 2024. The special sessions run by the nonprofit SCK Fitness are held at 10 p.m. during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to accommodate dawn-to-dusk fasting. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Muslim athletes push boundaries to keep on training despite fasting during Ramadan

Most people are getting ready for bed when the MMA sessions start at Diesel Gym in East London’s docklands area.

FILE - Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton speaks on Jan. 11, 2006, at a press conference in Columbus, Ohio. Gumbleton, a Catholic bishop in Detroit who for decades was an international voice against war and racism and an advocate for labor and social justice, died Thursday, April 4, 2024,. He was 94. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

Thomas Gumbleton, Detroit Catholic bishop who opposed war and promoted social justice, dies at 94

Thomas Gumbleton, a Catholic bishop in Detroit, has died. For decades, he was an international voice against war and racism and an advocate for labor and social justice.

Lawsuit challenging Indiana abortion ban survives a state challenge

Indiana’s Court of Appeals says the state’s near total ban on abortion may infringe on the religious freedom of some residents.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Dev Patel on the set of "Monkey Man." (Akhirwan Nurhaidir/Universal Pictures via AP)

How Dev Patel got ‘Monkey Man,’ his directorial debut beset by challenges, to the finish line

Oscar-nominated actor Dev Patel is making his feature directorial and screenwriting debut with the action thriller, “Monkey Man.”

FILE - A partial solar eclipse is seen behind a cross on the steeple of the St. George church, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Throughout history, solar eclipses have had profound impact on adherents of various religions around the world. They were viewed as messages from God or spiritual forces, inducing emotions ranging from dread to wonder. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Awe and dread: How religions have responded to total solar eclipses over the centuries

Throughout history, solar eclipses have had profound impact on adherents of various religions around the world.

FILE - Tourists visit the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Jan. 27, 2024. More than 250 Holocaust survivors have joined an international initiative to share their stories of loss and survival with students around the world during a time of rising antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. The Survivor Speakers Bureau was launched Thursday by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Jewish group launches Holocaust survivor speakers bureau to fight increasing antisemitism worldwide

More than 250 Holocaust survivors have joined an international initiative to share their stories of loss and survival with students around the world during a time of rising antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators rally in support of Palestinians, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington,. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Palestinian American doctor walks out of Biden White House meeting to protest US support for Israel

A Palestinian American doctor who has volunteered in Gaza walked out of a meeting with President Joe Biden this week.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows a scene from the film "Monkey Man." (Universal Pictures via AP)

Movie Review: Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ is a political allegory bathed in blood

Like “Slumdog Millionaire,” Dev Patel’s “Monkey Man” is set in Mumbai and has a touch of fable to it. But in tone and texture, it could hardly be more different.

Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Pope Francis showed tourists and pilgrims the rosary and Gospel booklet that the 23-year-old Ukrainian Alexander had with him when he was killed in Russia's war.(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope shows off rosary of slain Ukrainian soldier, denounces ‘madness of war’

Pope Francis has led thousands of people in a moment of silence to pray for the aid workers killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza.

FILE - This booking photo provided by the Hartford, Conn., Police Department shows Andrey Desmond of New Britain, Conn. Desmond, who attacked a Muslim state representative outside a prayer service in Connecticut, pleaded guilty Tuesday, April 2, 2024, to attempted sexual assault and other crimes, in a plea deal that calls for a five-year prison sentence. (Hartford Police Department via AP, File)

Man pleads guilty to attacking Muslim state representative in Connecticut

A man who attacked a Muslim state representative outside a prayer service in Connecticut has pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault and other crimes.

FILE - Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond stands during the playing of the national anthem at the inauguration ceremonies, Jan. 9, 2023, in Oklahoma City. Drummond urged the state’s highest court on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, to stop the creation of what would be the nation’s first publicly funded Catholic charter school. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Oklahoma court considers whether to allow the US’ first publicly funded Catholic school

Oklahoma’s attorney general is urging the state’s highest court to stop the creation of what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school.

FILE - Vatican investigators Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, from Spain, right, and Archbishop Charles Scicluna, from Malta, walk outside of the Nunciatura Apostolica during a break from meeting with people who alleged abuse by the Catholic lay group Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) in Lima, Peru, on July 25, 2023. A Peruvian archbishop who sued two journalists over their reports about sexual abuse and financial corruption in his religious movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, has resigned amid a Vatican investigation. Pope Francis on Tuesday April 2, 2024 accepted the resignation of Piura Archbishop José Eguren. At 67, he is several years shy of the normal retirement age for bishops of 75. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)

Peru archbishop who sued 2 journalists over reports on abuses, financial corruption resigns early

A Peruvian archbishop who sued two journalists over their reports about sexual abuse and financial corruption in his religious movement has resigned amid a Vatican investigation.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks at an event in Raleigh, N.C., March. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

Muslim leaders reject chance to break bread with Biden as anger over Gaza festers

President Joe Biden wanted to hold an iftar dinner with Muslim leaders at the White House to celebrate Ramadan this year, but his plans were scuttled because of tensions over Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

FILE - Pope Francis, left, and Pope Benedict XVI, meet each other on the occasion of the elevation of five new cardinals at the Vatican, on June 28, 2017. Pope Francis has exposed the political “maneuvers” to sway votes during the past two conclaves and denied he is planning to reform the process to elect a pope in a new book-length interview published Tuesday April 2, 2024. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP, File)

Pope exposes confidential details of past conclaves and settles scores with Pope Benedict XVI’s aide

Pope Francis has exposed the political “maneuvers” used to sway votes during the two most recent elections of popes in a book-length interview.

Vatican to publish document on gender, surrogacy and human dignity next week

The Vatican will publish next week an eagerly awaited document on gender theory and surrogacy. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will hold his first news conference to present the document on human dignity on April 8.

Imam Omar Niass leads evening prayers with mostly Senegalese migrants, before the breaking of Ramadan fast and the serving of a festive meal called an iftar, Friday March 15, 2024, at Bronx's Masjid Ansaru-Deen mosque in New York. The mosque, formerly the Imam's home, has been a refuge since 2020 where hundreds of African migrants can find help while seeking asylum in the United States. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Mosques in NYC struggle to house and feed an influx of Muslim migrants this Ramadan

Mosques in New York City are struggling to house and feed migrants as the country’s latest immigration surge becomes increasingly more African and Muslim.

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Coconino County, Ariz., Sheriff's Office shows Samuel Bateman, the leader of a small polygamous group near the Arizona-Utah border. On Monday, April 1, 2024, Bateman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity and another federal charge in what authorities say was a years-long scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children. (Coconino County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Polygamous sect leader pleads guilty in scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children

The leader of an offshoot polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport underage girls across state lines in what authorities say was a scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children.

President Joe Biden, right, greets children at the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

White House Easter egg roll draws a huge crowd after storm-delayed start

A huge crowd descended on the White House lawn for this year’s Easter egg roll after the event was delayed by thunder and lightning for about 90 minutes.

Palestinians carry the body of a person following an Israeli airstrike, into the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, April 1, 2024. Gaza medical officials say an apparent Israeli airstrike killed four international aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity and their Palestinian driver after they helped deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza that had arrived hours early by ship. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Gaza medical officials say Israeli strike kills 4 foreign aid workers, driver after delivering food

Gaza medical officials say an apparent Israeli airstrike killed four international aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity and their Palestinian driver after they helped deliver food and other supplies that had arrived in northern Gaza by ship hours earlier.

FILE - A member of the "Penitencia de los Apóstoles y Discípulos de Jesús" Catholic brotherhood before a Holy Week procession in the southern city of Alcala la Real, Spain, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

The blessing of rain dampens Holy Week in drought-stricken Spain

QUESADA, Spain (AP) — Some much needed rain was not going to ruin Holy Week for Alfonso del Río Martínez and his fellow Christians in the southern Spanish village of Quesada.

Revelers wearing decorated hats and costumes participate in the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, March 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

These images capture Easter Sunday around the world

Across the globe, people celebrated Easter Sunday — commemorating the day when, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem two millennia ago.

People run away from police during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government outside of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israelis stage largest protest since war began to increase pressure on Netanyahu

Tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October.

Pope Francis waves faithful from the central balcony of the St. Peter's Basilica prior to the the 'Urbi et Orbi' (To the city and to the world) blessing, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

In his Easter address, the pope called for a cease-fire in Gaza and a Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap

Pope Francis has rallied from respiratory problems to lead some 60,000 people in Easter celebrations and make a strong appeal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.

President Joe Biden waves as he arrives Air Force One, Tuesday, March 29, 2024, in Hagerstown, Md. Biden is en route to Camp David.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Trump camp and the White House clash over Biden’s recognition of ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’

President Joe Biden is facing criticism from Donald Trump and religious conservatives for proclaiming March 31 — which corresponds with Easter Sunday this year — as “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

Pope Francis presides over the Easter vigil celebration in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope presides over Easter Vigil, delivers 10-minute homily after skipping Good Friday at last minute

Pope Francis has delivered a 10-minute homily during the Vatican’s somber Easter Vigil service, a day after he made the last-minute decision to skip his participation in the Good Friday procession as a health precaution.